· September 16, 2011

August Employment Report

According to numbers released today by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, the number of working Ohioans actually dropped by 700 in the first full month since the passage of the “Jobs Budget.” Total Employment in the state now measures 5,116,500, down from 5,117,200 in July. During the same time period, Ohio’s total labor market (comprised of the ranks of working Ohioans and those actively searching for work) has shrunk by 3,600 people. Following 22 straight months without an increase, in August Ohio experienced its third consecutive month of rising unemployment, as the state’s jobless rate crept up from 9.0 to 9.1%, matching the U.S. rate. Normally one of the first states to experience a recession and the last to recover, Ohio has actually seen better rates of unemployment for most of this year than the U.S. as a whole. August breaks with this trend, as the depicted in the chart below:

Other items of note:

• The number of unemployed Ohioans rose 6,900 to 535,600, according to figures from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics
• The total labor market in Ohio continues the nosedive began in April. Since March, 39,000 Ohioans have left the workforce.
• The sector experiencing the largest decline in employment was professional and business services, losing 2,500 jobs, followed by manufacturing, which shrunk by 1,600 positions.
• Sectors seeing the greatest net increases in jobs include “other services” (+3,200), educational and health care services (+2,300) and construction (+900).